7 November Open Thread!

We recently hired a new college graduate. I am a little thrown by her using phrases sincerely that I would only make with a hint (or more) of irony. I don’t know what to do with “woot” when it’s just a genuine expression of happiness.

I guess my question is, is this confusion how the olds feel when I use “rad”?

Trump just fired Jeff Sessions, and the temporary replacement is a critic of the Mueller investigation who undoubtedly has been ordered to shut it down. Whether that can be done remains to be seen, but there’s no way that wouldn’t look like a coverup.

@24 Today’s 545-point gain is no larger than some of the 1-day declines we saw last month, but in any case, the market doesn’t like uncertainty and I think this reflects the removal of election-related uncertainties. Also, Wall Street prefers a split Congress over one-party rule, because partisan bickering keeps politicians out of their hair.

Trump will now push for a “middle class” tax cut, and if Democrats refuse, he’ll use that against them in 2020, and if they support it, he’ll argue they were complicit in his deficits. And the jackasses who go around wearing his “MAGA” hats will swallow this b.s. whole.

As I said a couple of days ago, the market likes a divided government because it means the government is more likely to get involved in gridlock instead of attacking the wealth-producing portion of our society. Right on cue, the markets closed up over 2% for the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ for the day.

I made some buys last month in anticipation of this phenomenon. Looks like it was a good decision. Buy low, sell high.

In other news, Michigan voted for legal recreational cannabis, and Utah and Missouri approved medical marijuana. That is quite a victory for common sense, the Constitution and individual liberty. With Jeff Sessions finally going home to Alabama for good, there’s a very good chance we can actually end this eighty-year-old nightmare of having a weed made illegal.

But wait, round two: fire the Attorney General. I mean come on, if the free press is the, “enemy of the people”, what does that make Jeff Sessions, given that he was one of Trump’s supporters?

Trump will whack Mueller, Yertle will stick his head in his shell, even if the Democrats can investigate, Trump has him man on the court that will defend him to the end. These guys make Shrub and Cheney look like stellar leaders.

I heard three different ones pointing out how interesting it was that Democratic Senators who voted no on Kavanaugh were all defeated and the only one who voted yes won (Manchin). It was almost like someone posted a meme on Breitbart and they all went with it.

Any bets on how long Mueller lasts? 1 week? 2 weeks? Trump is going to make the “Saturday Night Massacre” look like child’s play. Somewhere Richard Nixon is smiling because he is about to be replaced as the most reviled POTUS ever.

Yet, and this is simply amazing, people like Dr. Dumbfuck just love the guy and keep praising and supporting him.

What happened to decency and the rule of law when it comes to political leadership? I guess it is true, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Come on, for the last two years they weren’t worried about it, and it didn’t stop the gains then. This is complete bullshit. Sorry I don’t buy into it. There’s got to be some other type of fart that explains today’s gain.

@36 “instead of attacking the wealth-producing portion of our society”

The wealth-producing portion of our society is the workers, who are constantly under Republican attack. Capitalists like me produce nada. We get paid for owning the means of production. Less for workers, more for me. I won’t vote for that, but I profit from it. I didn’t create this system, I just go with the flow. Sitting here on my fat rabbit ass collecting dividends sure beats fighting commuter traffic and dealing with bosses, coworkers, and customers. I respect the workers, but I don’t envy them, and I sure as hell don’t want to be one of them. Work is the most disadvantaged and disrespected way of getting money there is. Nobody should work if they can get out of it. Everybody should be a lazy, good for nothing, unproductive capitalist like me, because that’s what the system favors and encourages.

“House Intelligence Chair Adam Smith announces Lead independent investigator of house investigation into Russian interference with electoral process Robert Mueller.”

Remember all those reports that Mueller was waiting until after midterms to deliver his findings. Well he’s been around a long time. There’s no way that FOIA related material stays secret if Mueller is removed. There’s tons of Security Cleared Ds on the computer that will get the report on the way out the door.

I don’t believe for a second that Dr. Dumbfuck is embarrassed by Trump. He plays his part as the foil to the HA crowd just a little too well.

By allowing us to post with anonymity (much to the anguish of Shortbus) it allows a tad more freedom to express our thoughts in ways that might otherwise be slightly muted if posting under real names. Some might engage in a bit of hyperbole because of it, but the thing is, Dr. Dumbfuck is just a bit too consistent in his “role playing” and you can tell by his dialog when his feefees are hurt and that is when the real core beliefs come through. Try as he might, he can’t hide that he really is homophobic, racist, and mysognistic, just like his boy Trump is.

Trump is allowing people like Boob to come out and openly express their bigotry. Problem is he lives in a very liberal part of the state so it is still not as acceptable to really flaunt it. If he were in the deep South, hell, he would proudly display his KKK membership.

@47 I can’t say I know how that works, but my understanding is the House majority, exercising its subpoena power, can obtain it from DoJ. So my guess is they’re looking for a way to ensure there isn’t a report. And I’ll further venture that if Trump can’t subtly quash Mueller’s investigation, he’ll do it overtly, figuring risking impeachment is preferable to risking prison for himself and his entire family, except I’m not sure how much he cares about his family.

@49. “Try as he might, he can’t hide that he really is homophobic, racist, and mysognistic, just like his boy Trump is.”

I wouldn’t disagree and actually agree 100 percent with that but I still think that Bob is somewhat embarrassed by The Hump’s approach, or feels some guilt about being that way and/or the current situation. I think this is more of Bob playing this as the Yankees vs Red Sox competition, with each side having their own bigots but more so the team he is cheerleading for. And he’s a avid fan of his team and not going to swallow any pride.

Aside from this competitive folly and support of the GOP actions, I don’t see where Bob, on a daily basis, states specific support and agreement with Trump himself in the first person.

@52 continued – I could be missing it but I don’t even see where Bob speaks or refers to his support to “President Trump”, he’s more so bantering of Republican vs Democrat. He doesn’t even speak out in any actually debative way that has any substance.

51, I think what you guys are missing is that as of noon yesterday PornSweat’s criminal defense team have their eyes on everything in Rosenstein’s files. And they are in a JDA with at least 16 other potential co-conspirators. Mueller’s criminal investigation ends here.

She’s smarter than you, works harder than you, and is far healthier than you. Your stent is fraying Dumbfuck. Starting with Doug Jones, through these mids, with each committee hearing, and every subsequent Rossiesque defeat it grows weaker and more frayed.

It’s a relief rally. With divided government nothing really can happen that will disrupt Wall Street. If Dems had taken the House and Senate the market would have fallen. I suspect that had the GOP held the House the market would have fallen.

The GOP did well enough in the Senate elections that even 2020 will probably wind up with a GOP-controlled Senate, which means that economically there will be a check on the Democrats’ power at least until 2022.

CONCLUSION: Elderly patients who sustain blunt chest trauma with rib fxs have twice the mortality and thoracic morbidity of younger patients with similar injuries. For each additional rib fracture in the elderly, mortality increases by 19% and the risk of pneumonia by 27%. As the number of rib fractures increases, there is a significant increase in morbidity and mortality in both groups, but with different patterns for each group. Further prospective study is needed to determine the utility of epidural analgesia in this population.

59, I’d like to believe that Yertle is singing from the same AM Hate radio propaganda hymnal as you trailerbillies. But he’s not quite as stupid as you people. Every tough vote for Doug Jones is a tougher vote for the 20 class 2 Roypublican Senators like Collins, Gardner, Perdue, Ernst, and Tillis.

How’s it gonna look forcing a confirmation vote on a guy like Whitaker with a criminal fraud background? Could have waited until Jan 1st and avoided that. But your President RageTweet lost his shit overnight watching the returns come in and blew it.

Exit question: How strategically stupid must you be to organize an actual mob against a right-wing media star, replete with video, after Republicans just cleaned up in the Senate campaigning against progressive mobs?

@55 Predictably, Doctor Dumbfuck gloats and jokes about a senior citizen suffering broken ribs in a fall, colored by twinges of regret that she’s still alive, because he’s a Republican dumbfuck. This is what they are now.

This time, there were half a dozen off-duty cops in that dance hall, but they couldn’t prevent it. Kinda blows holes in the NRA’s and GOP’s argument that the best solution to mass shootings is “a good guy with a gun.”

Personally, I think preventing bad guys, crazies, and kids from having access to guns is a better bet.

Personally, I think preventing bad guys, crazies, and kids from having access to guns is a better bet.

California had a law to do this.

Sheriff Geoff Dean said his department had had several interactions with Long, including a call to his home in April for a complaint of disturbing the peace. Deputies at the time said Long was irate and acting irrationally, Dean said. They called in mental health professionals to evaluate him, and they concluded he did not need to be taken into custody.

@77 No one claims gun control always keeps guns out of wrong hands or will prevent every tragedy. But even a dumbfuck like you should be able to figure out that sensible gun regulation is more effective than no gun regulation.

64, Setting aside the constitutional challenge this interim appointment will trigger, had you Teh Dumbfucks waited until Jan 1 you’d have until the end of 2020 to postpone confirmation. This gives you less than 12 months at best.

A constitutional recess appointment is good until the end of the next Congress. This guy will get you until June at best. McGahn is gone. There’s nobody in the shop now to prevent these kinds of fuckups. Temper, temper.

To give you some idea of just how stupid Teh Dumbfuck is defending PornSweat’s temper tantrum, even Mr. Justice PubicHair has insisted that principal officers may only be appointed through Article 2, and not through FVRA. Even FVRA requires that an interim be another Article 2 appointee with Senate confirmation and not a rank and file employee. Whitaker, of course, could never make it through confirmation because of his past (recent) criminal associations.

And all this could have been avoided had he just waited a few weeks. That was in fact the plan that McGahn and Yertle put together. And it would have worked beautifully too. This is…

Well, it was two years ago tonight that my political career ended. It was my turn to be President, dammit! Why didn’t those Midwestern states vote for me?

I should have got my staffers to get more votes from the dead people, convicted felons and illegals in those states. All it would have taken was a bit more money from the swells of Hollywood, Soros and the other billionaire progressive criminals.

Hey, speaking of congresswomen electing not to run for leadership positions:

Rep. Linda Sanchez’s husband indicted for corruption

Thursday afternoon, Sanchez released a statement in response to her husband’s indictment.

“Earlier today I learned that my husband is facing charges in Connecticut,” she wrote. “After careful consideration of the time and energy being in leadership demands, I have decided that my focus now needs to be on my son, my family, and my constituents in California.”

Sanchez, the current vice chair of the Democratic caucus, recently dropped out of the race for Democratic caucus chair, citing unspecified a “family matter.”

96, That may be the saddest thing yet in his decline. Sanchez doubled her Republican opponent’s vote count. McMorris Rogers held on by a few thousand skinheads. Teh Dumbfuck “wins” like a dgenerate gambler.

Marco Rubio is out there making an ass of himself stating that Democrats are trying to steal the election and there should be no recount.

Florida Law:

(7) If the unofficial returns reflect that a candidate for any office was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent (.5) or less of the votes cast for such office, that a candidate for retention to a judicial office was retained or not retained by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast on the question of retention, or that a measure appearing on the ballot was approved or rejected by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast on such measure, a recount shall be ordered of the votes cast with respect to such office or measure.

Current margin with some absentees on Broward apparently still to be counted:

Governor .4% Senate .3%

A recount may not change that but it is the law, Marco. You are saying the law must be ignored.

Ass-holey White rich people sure do love those fancy restaurants just like the tech bros, eh Dumbfuck? Only these rich people just want McFood places with cloth napkins.

Eagle’s Landing, GA vote to succeed from the ‘peasants’ did not pass. (There’s a Pawnee/Eagleton joke here somewhere)

The folks behind the secession movement say it wasn’t racism fueling the charge, but rather, the desire for fancier chain restaurants. “I serve on the Henry County zoning board and so I kept seeing all of these places like Bojangles, Waffle Houses, dollar stores, and all this going up in our county,” Vikki Consiglio, the chair of the Committee for the City of Eagle’s Landing, told CityLab. “And I was like, why can’t we get a Cheesecake Factory, or a P.F. Chang’s or a Houston’s? We have areas that have high incomes, so what’s the deal?”

“Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is expected to chair the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when Democrats assume the House majority next year, has a goal: producing a major infrastructure bill providing $500 billion for highways and transit, plus additional funding for airports and water projects.”

from ENR Website –

November 7, 2018 Tom Ichniowski

Trump gave away the big tax cut..and did nothing for Infrastructure spending – his bill was nothing…even the Democrats plan isn’t enough. Reinstate the taxes and spend $1T!

Nelson ends up a hold (in just the last few hours the vote margin has shifted to “mandatory machine Recount” under Florida law to “Mandatory HAND recount.” < .25%

Nelson Holds, AZ flips. Sinema now has a lead of 9,000 and the only counties with significant #s of ballots left are D leaning. AZ is probably going Blue.

All that crowing Dumbfuck has been doing and the final numbers are 51-49 and the GOP still needs to please McCaskill, Susan Collins already knows she’s in for a huge fight in 2020 with well financed opposition AND Cory Gardner of now solid Blue Colorado and John Kyl of appointed to fill a term and just watched the GOP lose an AZ seat are looking down the road to 2020 and seeing a great disturbance in the force.

Again, just speculating that our last remaining troll will get really quiet

And meanwhile GOP in FL and AZ are suing to not count ballots. Good messaging going forward. “They literally tried to throw your ballot away. But nevertheless, we persisted.”

After two years of “Democrats are in deep trouble because of the number of Senate Seats they must defend and GOP will pick off WV, MT, MO and ND and maybe others where Trump won, blah blah blah.” and the final result is they only gained ONE seat.

The number of GOP Senate seats is exactly where it was when the ‘total winner, great ratings, the greatest’ took the oath and they lost the house?

@104 “Again, just speculating that our last remaining troll will get really quiet”

No he won’t, in fact he will come out swinging. It will be, “Hillary lost in 2016 and will never, ever, be president.” Or it will be, “Hey libbies, Hillary was a truly awful candidate and she chose to skip states, blah, blah, blah…” Oh he might toss in a barb at Obama every once in a while but he will never admit that Trump has been a fucking disaster on many levels. Like Trump, he will defend the indefensible, and when it gets really tough, puff his chest up and say, “Oh yeah, and it was 20 to 1.”

Hillary is all he has, that and harping about GE stock, which he should have shorted (below $10 today). Just a one-trick pony.

“A federal judge halted construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline on Thursday, in a blow to the Trump administration and a win for environmental groups. US District Judge Brian Morris found that … use of a 2014 environmental review to justify issuing a presidential permit for construction of the cross-border pipeline violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, according to the court order issued Thursday.”

Good for the judge on that ruling. However I don’t think that will really stop Trump and his ilk because, you know, the rule of law is for the little people and people of color, Trump and his clan have proven they think they are above the law. How many of Trump’s close advisors are now felons?

Look at Florida, Marco and his bitching about a recount when the law is clear.

Time to call in Jimmy Carter to monitor elections in Florida because it seems to be worse than some despot third-world countries.

Turns out Kelly is a subject of investigation by OSC, and is engaged currently in an ongoing legal battle to avoid being interviewed. That may implicate his direct involvement in the firing of Sesh. Obstruction I think they call it.

This is what you get when angry man-baby is overworked and loses his shit at 4 am. #tempertemper

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